6. Or if you’re afraid of heights, stick closer to the ground with some lakeside mini-golf.

7. Go swimming lakeside at the Gus Ryder Pool in Sunnyside Park, then have some salt-and-vinegar drenched fries at the Sunnyside Cafe. If you sit on the steps of the Pavilion and squint, you can almost imagine that you’re a Jazz-era family hitting the park for a day of bathing, Gatsby-style.

10. … and then head down the street for some gelato at Dolce Gelato. Try the Tiramisu.

11. Spend a hot afternoon in the shade at Dufferin Grove Park. In the summer, there’s a kiosk selling hot dogs and cookies and coffee set up right alongside the waterpark and playground. If you go on a Thursday, you’ll find one of the city’s best farmer’s markets set up just a few feet away.

17. Yes, it’s cliched, but you really must visit the CN Tower. Go on a weekday morning to avoid the tourists. Try to time your visit to coincide with a clear-skies forecast, and don’t forget to test your courage on the glass floor.

18. Rent some bicycles and ride out Leslie Spit. Take a camera to take advantage of the awesome city skyline view, and so that you can prove to your birdwatching friends that you really did see that northern saw-whet owl.

19. Visit Mr Dressup’s Treehouse in the lobby of CBC Studios . Explain to your kids that once upon a time, there were kids shows that didn’t involve grown-ups dressing up as Wiggles or big purple dinosaurs, and that they were awesome.

20. Order pierogies at one of the old Polish restaurants on Roncesvalles Avenue. Try the Roncesvalles Bakery, and ask for extra sour cream and butter. (Roncesvalles Bakery has since closed.)

29. See the Nutcracker (or Swan Lake, or Cinderella, or whatever tutu-filled spectacle strikes your fancy) as performed by one of the world’s premier ballet companies. Matinee performances are usually full of tiny ballerinas, so go ahead and bring the kids.

30. Feed the koi in the pond at the Don Mills Brick Works. Go on a Saturday and enjoy the farmers’ market. If you’re lucky, the chefs from Lee will have their kiosk set up and you can sample world-class appetizers at farmers’ prices. Wash it all down with some fresh-squeezed organic lemonade and then explore the trails behind the Brick Works. Be sure to wear walking shoes; some of those hills are steep.

38. But because you’re in Canada, make the trek across the park to the Canadian Domain and say hello to the Grizzly bear . Take bets on whether it’s bigger than the gorilla, and then ask a zookeeper for the answer. Winner gets a Beavertail.

43. Go hunting for vintage polyester children’s rompers and obscure North African spices in Kensington Market. Go on a Sunday when the area is closed to vehicles and roam the streets like the hippies you’ll imagine yourselves to be.

44. Eat Ethiopian food with your fingers at the famous Queen of Sheba restaurant in the Queen West gallery district.

45. Stand in the middle of historic Union Station and pretend that you’re about to hop a train and cross the country.

46. Or, if you have a free day, hop a Via Rail train to Cobourg and visit spectacular Cobourg beach and then get home in time for a late dinner.

48. Explore all the mysteries of science at the Ontario Science Centre. (Not up for exploring mysteries? Just let the kids run free in one of the most spectacular indoor playgrounds, ever. And then maybe sit through a show in the Imax theater. Learning can be fun for the lazy, too.)

49. Stay up all night – or as late as you can – for Nuit Blanche. Yes, with the kids. It’s not as though anybody sleeps through the night at home, anyway. Might as well get some fun out of it.

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